Comments

The Elephant Image was in the same contest as the bird caught in the web and the snowy gibbon, and I would like to know who judged them, because to me the elephant shot is 'meh'... the shot of the lion and vulture... GOOD GOD are they amazing

The polar bear image is amazing, unique.....and scary: The photographer standing on unstable ice while a large predator lurks just a few feet away,..... looking at the camera, or possibly thinking about having photographer for lunch.

Most of the shots require a talent for prestidigitation that would surpass Houdini. How in blazes be in such-and-such a position at uncanny moments and capture any image at all, much less one that displays finesse on par with a studio portrait.

James Randi has debunked the paranormal, UFOlogy, and other assorter quackery. Photography is, almost by nature, an art of illusion. Perhaps the practitioners should be called illusionists, just like other conjurers of the impossible.

The picture of the submerged white bear is just awesome. I daresay It's the best photograph I have ever seen, It's a once in a century picture. Kudos to Paul Souders. I wonder how any other picture got any reward over this one.

I was prepared to be amazed until i saw shot #3. I could be wrong, but I suspect the bird image was dragged into the spider web image. I feel the same about the owl shot. As for the blue elephant, all animals, even elephants are entitled to their moods.

I would actually disagree, especially your owl shot. I guess theirs may have been a tougher shot if they actually captured it in that light though. A lot of these shots just seem to be so overprocessed that it gives one pause, whereas your shots feel cleaner, maybe edited for contrast/WB/crop and that a bit, but nothing crazy like blue elephants. I feel I would have liked these images more even completely untouched than like this.

Top notch photos overall. Most repect to the photographers. Let`s see how many comments this will bring. Comments on "why GX7 only gets silver award" is now a couple of hundreds. Really hope this is bringing in more, so there will be some hope about that pictures are more important than gear...

Wrong. To comment on such photos is about as plausible as adult discussion about holy shrines, miracles, or the paranormal. One can politely venerate, or maybe envy, but only by standing a minimum distance from the altar or ceremonial stage. No polite coughs allowed. Amen.

Robot shots from Mars are also miraculous, in a way, but deal with stones, dunes, or ravines which don't defy the mind.

Comments about cameras, even if ill-informed or biased, at least deal with tangible objects any mortal with a little money can buy and test. The spectacular animal shots, on the other hand, boast attainments that vastly exceed what you or I will ever see or photograph in person. All required either exceptional amounts of travel, time, patience, and (here or their) dexterity with a mouse. Occasionally, by virtue of sheer number, amateur phone camera shots may also capture extraordinary natural events or animal behavior, but these will invariably cause gear hounds to howl.

Incredible pics, my favourite is the owl , so difficult to capture. There must be a fascinating programme waiting to be made on how some of these were captured. Love them all but don't personally see why the heffalumps was first. Matters not though.

Hmm. How about a Kick-Start venture called "Hooter," based on a gadget that lures night raptors to a camera. It could be assembled from an infra-red motion detector, camera flash trigger, and a pungent morsel of deceased rodent. Vulture capital would surely be available, provided it included a daytime mode too.